India's health ministry calls for vigilance amid spike in COVID-19 cases

NEW DELHI, April 8 (Xinhua) -- India's federal health ministry has advised states to stay alert amid a spike in COVID-19 cases across the country.

According to data released by the ministry on Saturday, 6,155 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours.

This was the first time since Sept. 16 last year that daily cases have crossed the 6,000 mark.

On Friday, federal health minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a review meeting on the COVID-19 pandemic with local health officials.

Mandaviya said the federal government and states need to continue working together to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. He issued directions to ramp up testing and vaccination efforts.

A spike in influenza and COVID-19 cases has been witnessed since mid-February this year.